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Iran has announced plans to convene a multilateral meeting in Oman on Monday, inviting Iraq and neighboring Gulf nations to address the ongoing maritime crisis surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. The strategic waterway remains under an Iranian blockade amid a prolonged diplomatic deadlock between Tehran and the United States. The planned discussions in Muscat aim to address shipping protocols and broader regional security concerns stemming from the confrontation.
The blockade of the strategic passage has triggered substantial disruptions across global energy markets, creating significant supply challenges worldwide. The closure of the corridor has had an acute impact on Gulf countries, which rely almost entirely on oil and gas exports through the waterway to fund the vast majority of their national budgets. Approximately one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies normally transit through the narrow channel.
According to a statement released by Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the summit in Oman is designed to foster improved understanding among regional neighbors and help establish a unified framework for shared security. Iranian officials have emphasized that the governance and protection of local waters should remain exclusively within the jurisdiction of neighboring Middle Eastern states rather than external powers.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei described the initiative as evidence of Tehran's constructive intentions toward its neighbors. Baghaei stated that regional security must be maintained independently by local countries without the intervention of foreign powers or outside military forces. He highlighted that Iran remains willing to engage in dialogue with surrounding nations despite allegations that their territories and domestic military facilities, along with American bases hosted in the region, were utilized to carry out attacks against Iranian targets.
Tensions across the region remain elevated, however, as Gulf governments have previously accused Tehran of conducting strikes against non-military targets. These alleged attacks have reportedly targeted vital civilian infrastructure throughout the Gulf, including commercial airports and essential desalination plants that supply water across the arid region.
Bahrain, a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), has officially declared that it will not attend the Muscat summit. The island kingdom has sustained substantial damage from Iranian retaliatory strikes since February, when the United States and Israel initiated military operations against Iran. Citing these ongoing hostilities, Manama expressed strong skepticism regarding the proposed multilateral talks.
In an official statement, Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed its refusal to participate in the gathering, asserting that regional stability and long-term security cannot be secured through what it termed a policy of appeasement. Manama maintained that the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened immediately to international commercial navigation without the imposition of discriminatory measures, transit fees, or special regulatory permits.
Bahrain further conditioned any future collective engagement on direct diplomatic reconciliation with Tehran. While reiterating a general commitment to dialogue, the foreign ministry clarified that it would not join any multilateral meeting involving Iran until formal diplomatic relations between the two capitals are officially restored. Bahrain severed ties with Tehran in 2016 alongside Saudi Arabia during a previous regional dispute; while Riyadh restored diplomatic relations with Iran in 2023, Manama has yet to normalize its ties.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also tempered expectations regarding the immediate outcome of the Oman conference. Speaking to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Araghchi warned that a forthcoming bilateral agreement between Tehran and Muscat concerning maritime traffic through the strait will not automatically lead to the reopening of the vital trade route.
Araghchi stated that Iranian officials plan to present the details of the agreement with Oman, including specialized navigational maps delineating a newly proposed shipping route, to the delegations attending Monday's conference. However, the foreign minister stressed that this arrangement does not signal an end to the blockade. Tehran continues to insist that the United States must first uphold the terms of an earlier 60-day memorandum of understanding signed electronically between the parties in June.
The June agreement collapsed in July after Washington attempted to promote an alternative commercial route situated closer to Omani territorial waters, a move that prompted subsequent Iranian military strikes. Araghchi reaffirmed Iran's official stance that safeguarding maritime stability and overall peace within the Persian Gulf corridor remains an exclusive responsibility belonging entirely to regional states.
The planned diplomatic discussions take place amid rising violence across regional waterways. Recent attacks on commercial vessels have underscored the persistent risks to merchant shipping in the narrow bottleneck. On Sunday, a strike targeting an Iranian commercial vessel near Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz left at least one individual dead and four others injured, marking another escalation in maritime clashes.
In response to the deteriorating security environment, regional intermediaries have accelerated diplomatic outreach. Indirect negotiations mediated by Omani officials have continued regarding temporary shipping corridors and safe passage mechanisms. Additionally, high-level diplomatic contacts have taken place, including a late-August visit to Tehran by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani aimed at de-escalating military hostilities and overcoming the diplomatic stalemate between Iran and the United States.
Central to the dispute is Iran’s demand for formal international recognition of its regulatory authority over the Strait of Hormuz, which would grant Tehran the legal right to collect transit tolls from commercial vessels navigating the passage. The United States has consistently rejected these conditions. Oman, which borders the opposite bank of the strategic chokepoint, has noted that its bilateral negotiations with Tehran are being conducted with the broader consensus of neighboring regional states.
As Monday's scheduled summit in Muscat approaches, the ultimate level of participation remains uncertain. Aside from Bahrain’s definitive refusal to take part, Iraq and the remaining Gulf nations have not yet formally confirmed whether they will dispatch official delegations to the negotiations.
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